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iTablet Rumor Mill: Final Countdown Edition

As we’re now sitting at T-Minus 2 hours to the presumptive iTablet launch, some late-breaking rumors have thrown some fuel on the fire of speculation.

A series of late-night tweets by Jason Calacanis have sparked speculation about the new tablet device, suggesting that the device will include a built-in HDTV tuner, a PVR, two cameras for AR videoconferencing, a solar panel and facial recognition. Calacanis asserts that he’s slated to appear as a pundit on CNN and CNBC today to comment on the tablet, which is the reason Apple delivered the tablet “10 days early.” The string of tweets started with Calacanis refusing to break his Non-Disclosure Agreement with Apple, but after giving just a few details, he said that he’d already broken it and opened the floodgate on details.

If he’s not blowing smoke, these are some incredibly interesting revelations.The presence of a PVR and HDTV tuner in the device suggests some other specifications. HDTV consumes a lot of space, so if the PVR records in HD, the device likely has at least 64GB of storage, if not more.

In addition, Calacanis asserts that the product has a solar pad on the back, which he claims is “just a gimmic (sic)…it really doesn’t work quickly.” This would suggest that the rumors about Steve Jobs’ fascination with solar power are correct.

It’s quite possible, though, that these are just rumors. We’ll find out soon enough.

EDIT: So it turns out that Calacanis was telling fairy tales. He’s now claiming that he has the iPad 2.0, which goes on sale in October. For real news about the iPad, please read Martin’s article available here.